Questions for…
Dean Koontz

Selling Books by Going Beyond
'Greatest Love Story Ever Told'

By

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated May 4, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

Author Dean Koontz, 59 years old, knows the book business -- by his count he's sold more than 250 million copies world-wide. Every year, readers buy an estimated 17 million copies of his thrillers. His work, which includes "By the Light of the Moon" and "Intensity," has been published in 38 languages. He receives more than 30,000 letters annually.

The book publishing business, though, is in trouble. Annual sales inched up only 1.3% in 2004 to $23.7 billion, according to the Association of American...